Trayce Jackson-Davis on Indiana's struggles to respond vs. Rutgers: 'It won't happen again'
Trayce Jackson-Davis is still determined to right the ship in Bloomington. Despite back-t0-back losses to Michigan State and Rutgers, the Indiana forward still believes Indiana can get it turned around in the final three games before the B1G Tournament.
Indiana dropped a 74-63 road contest to Rutgers on Wednesday night, the second time the Hoosiers blew a double-digit lead in as many games. The Scarlet Knights erased a 15-point deficit in the 1st half and took a 35-31 advantage into the locker room.
Rutgers’ momentum carried over into the second half, eventually building a 20-point lead.
Why weren’t the Hoosiers able to stop the bleeding and get back in control of the game? Jackson-Davis didn’t have an answer. But he doesn’t expect it to happen again.
“I don’t even know how to answer it honestly,” Jackson-Davis said when asked about IU’s lack of response in Wednesday’s game. “Just know that it won’t happen again. That’s basically all you need to know.”
Trayce Jackson-Davis tries to put into words why IU struggled to respond as Rutgers surged Wednesday, before saying: "I don't even know how to answer it honestly. Just know that it won't happen again. That's basically all you need to know." #iubb
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) February 26, 2021
Jackson-Davis scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the game, while Al Durham also had a big night with 20 points. The rest of Indiana’s starters scored just 2 points. Combined.
The Hoosiers were 12-9 heading into games against Michigan state and Rutgers with a chance to improve their status as an NCAA tournament team. But after back-to-back losses, the future for IU is in serious jeopardy.
Now, Indiana has No. 3 Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue remaining on the schedule and likely needs to win two of those three and potentially a game in the B1G tournament to secure a bid.
We’ll see what happens Saturday when the Hoosiers host the Wolverines.